"Pin-dids"

01/27/2014

When Stacey asked me to be a part of the Bond Top pattern tour I signed up immediately! I love the style, design and the mixing of knit and woven fabrics!

I also love that it's a pattern for boys!

At first, I thought that I would be making one just for Henry, but then with my recent string of bad luck with him even putting on the clothes I make, I thought I ought to make one for Violet too...and, as I was sewing hers up...inspiration struck... A Bond Top and a Bond Top Dress! I let her try the shirt on first, and then asked her if she would rather a shirt or a dress, the answer was an affirmative "Dress!" And so, while she was sleeping, I added a simple circle skirt (using Dana's tutorial) to the bottom of her Bond Top.The skirt itself, was 10" long, with a 1/2" hem (sewn with a double needle). I made the skirt and hemmed it first and then added it to the bottom of the Bond Top with a 1/4" seam allowance. Violet's waist measured 23" and with the 2" addition that Dana calls for in her tutorial the bottom of the top and the top of the skirt fit almost perfectly. The skirt was a little bit wider, but I added a couple small gathers to accommodate that.

The dress has a fun drop waist, and of course, since it's a circle skirt, it's got plenty of twirl! I'm not sure it's necessary to say, but...She LOVES it!

And Henry, despite his threats of "I don't like that shirt", actually put his on! Along with jeans, briefly, and some other accessories... He looks so handsome! And, he promises that he will wear it again. We shall see!

Anywho, the pattern...I really do love this pattern! I love the fact that Stacey mixes wovens and knits together as a compromise for those children who would rather stay in their jammies all day long...

MINE! The pictures and instructions are easy to follow, with lots of helpful tips. There are only six pattern pieces. And, because of it's Henley style (read, not a ton of buttons!) it comes together fairly quickly. I will admit that I had some difficulty with the placket, though for the first placket it was most definitely due to "user error"...I accidentally cut straight through the back flap of my placket when I was cutting down the center! ACK! And, being a little lazy, I made due with my mistake rather than picking seams and starting all over again. For the second one, I may have forgotten to read the instructions...oops!

I am so happy with the way both of these turned out...and the kids both seem to really like them, bonus! And, I've got some pretty fabulously silly pictures of them too...because for some reason they were in a crazy mood come photo time...I blame it on being Friday afternoon! Thanks so much to Stacey for letting me join the pattern tour!

This one wasn't. It was perfectly simple and easy. All you need is an old pot and wax. I dipped mine several times to get a nice even coating.
It took me longer (as it usually does) to string them to my mobile sticks than the actual "crafting" itself.

They turned out beautifully...
Violet and Henry enjoyed finding the leaves with me. They loved watching the wax melt from a solid chunk to a liquid. We turned the whole crafting project into a little mini lesson on why leaves change color and why they fall. We discussed the similarities between the leaves and the differences. We talked about the different parts of the leaves. They helped me count them so that we had an even amount for each mobile. And Violet helped me come up with a pretty order to hang them in...
A perfectly simple and beautiful fall project. And a lovely update for our mobile sticks!

08/13/2012

I have to say that there hasn't been a ton of sewing and such going on around here.

Most of that is due to the fact that I have been working on a secret, non-sewing, project for Brad for our anniversary that is coming up at the end of the month. I am really excited about it, but really that is all I can say about it, as, I am notorious for getting too excited about my secrets and accidentally spilling the beans...Oh, and also, because he has been known to check in here every few days so I wouldn't want to spoil it!

Anywho...the lack of here and there sewing throughout the day has had me craving it. But, with catching up on the Olympics at night these past couple of weeks I didn't really want to be sitting at my sewing table. So instead, I've been working on some small hand stitching projects while sitting on the couch...it's been fun...and comfy!

I'm still working on my phone case. It seems to be a never ending project and Brad keeps taunting me and telling me it's not worth it and Violet keeps asking me how my phone project is going...So I continue to push on, because I have to.

I've also finally caught on to the "hexie movement", ha ha...and totally get why everyone talks about how addictive it is.

They are just so darn cute!

But mostly, while watching the Olympics, I was stitching these up...

Felt Fortune cookies!

I have been wanting an excuse to make these since February. Celebrating my mother-in-law's 70th birthday seemed like the perfect one.

You can find the tutorial right here at Curly Birds. They are super fun to make and really not difficult (I think the cutting the tracing was the hardest part).

Violet even helped to stitch a few

The whole family worked together to think of 70 reasons we were fortunate to have Gigi in our lives and stuffed those little thoughts into the "cookies". The most fun part of it all was watching the grandchildren eagerly snatch up a cookie and pull out it's fortune and either read it aloud or have Gigi read it aloud! It was such a fun was to celebrate 70. Loaded with lots of smiles!

Welcome...

I'm Jane, thanks for stopping by! I hope you take your time and take a look around...If you do you'll our adventures in sewing, creating, crafting, gardening and exploring...it's what gets us through the day and fullfills us!
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